Eva Cassidy

Diagnoses

Personal

Vocation

Traits

Family

American singer and acoustical guitarist, she died at age 33 on November 2, 1996 in Bowie, MD, from melanoma. She had had a malignant tumor removed from her back a few years before she died and had a fatal recurrence during the summer of 1996. Cassidy began playing guitar at age nine although she had even earlier played banjo and autoharp. Her father, a special education teacher, provided her first lessons but she was largely self-taught. She earned her first pay in her teens while playing at small venues with her brother and a friend. In her mid 20s, she sang back-up and lead vocals on local music projects, her voice lending itself to many styles: rock, folk, rap, country, go-go. She released her first album, "Method Actor," in 1987 and formed the Eva Cassidy Band in early 1990. Since her death, at least four albums have been released posthumously, in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2002. Although she was not widely known before her death, she did have a legion of fans and has arguably become better known after her death. Cassidy's grandmother is Clara Cassidy, who became a newspaper columnist at age 65, consolidating her columns into books such as "Stay off that Rocker" as well as two children's books. Link to Wikipedia biography